scholarly journals Beyond Liberal Peace in Sri Lanka: Victory, Politics, and State Formation

2020 ◽  
pp. 154231662097612
Author(s):  
Malin Åkebo ◽  
Sunil Bastian
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
State Formation ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
State Reform ◽  
Communal Violence ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Military Victory

In 2009, the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ended through a military victory for the government. Features of the post-war peace—including persistent militarization, strengthened nationalism, and communal violence—have commonly been attributed to a failed attempt at liberal peacebuilding followed by an authoritarian backlash. In contrast, this study shows how the post-war peace has been shaped by historical processes of state formation aimed at consolidating the Sri Lankan state. The article takes a long-term approach to analysing peace in Sri Lanka through the lens of state formation. The analysis centres on four key aspects: (1) post-war security, (2) state–minority relations, (3) socio-economic aspects, and (4) electoral politics. We conclude that there are currently few signs of any substantial state reform that would accommodate the continuous demand for social justice and minority rights that has spurred violent conflicts in Sri Lanka.

scholarly journals Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration of Armed Groups in Post-war Sri Lanka: A Study based on Koralaipattu South Divisional Secretariat Division in Eastern Sri Lanka

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
V. Kamalasiri ◽  
M. A. M. Fowsar ◽  
M. M. Fazil
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Sustainable Peace ◽  
Foreign Governments ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War ◽  
Military Victory ◽  
The Military

This article generally focuses on the process of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) which are essential to restore sustainable peace in the post-war scenario. The DDR is one of the significant aspects of the process of post-war peacebuilding. In most of the cases, this process has implemented with the assistance of foreign governments and international or regional institutions. However, the circumstances under which the Government of Sri Lanka happened to take over the sole responsibility for implementing the DDR process have raised serious concerns both at the local and international level. Hence, this article attempts to conduct a detailed inquiry of the DDR process implemented in Sri Lanka after the end of the civil war. This article followed a descriptive method of investigation. The findings of the study show that the DDR process was not fully implemented in a broad manner in the Sri Lankan context, but only served as a continuation of the military victory over the LTTE. In particular, not much attention was paid to disarming and demobilizing the armed groups, and only the so-called DDR process took place without international assistance and supervision.

scholarly journals Post-War Religious Violence, Counter-State Response and Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-223
Author(s):  
Mohammad Agus Yusoff ◽  
Athambawa Sarjoon
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Religious Violence ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
Religious Nationalism ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
State Response ◽  
Religious Intolerance ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War

Abstract Sri Lankan military forces and government authorities have succeeded to counter measure terrorism by defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). However, their initiatives and efforts to restore peace and harmony among different ethno-religious groups in the post-war context are highly complex. The additional space given to the reemergence of radical religious groups has negatively influenced the process of fostering religious tolerance and harmony, which have been maintained for centuries in the country. Ethno-religious minorities became the major targets of religious hatred and violent attacks. At both the societal and political platforms, majoritarian religious sentiments and discourse have established a dominant presence in opposing the existence and practice of the religious fundamentals of minorities. This study has attempted to investigate the nature and impact of majoritarian religious violence in post-war Sri Lanka, as well as the efforts made by the government authorities to control them in order to foster religious tolerance and harmony in the country. This study argues that religious violence under the shadow of religious nationalism has been promoted by many forces as a mechanism by which to consolidate a majoritarian ethno-religious hegemony in the absence of competing ethnic-groups context in post-war Sri Lanka. In many ways, state apparatuses have failed to control religious violence, maintain religious tolerance and inter-religious harmony, particularly of accommodating minorities in nature. The study concludes that the continuous promotion of majoritarian religious hegemony through anti-minority religious hatred and violence would further promote religious intolerance and radicalism challenging the establishment of religious harmony in the country.

scholarly journals THE TORTUOUS PATH OF ACCOUNTABILITY TO ENSURE POST-WAR RECONCILIATION—THE CASE OF SRI LANKA

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jehan Perera
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Counter Measures ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Resources ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War ◽  
Main Engine ◽  
Horizontal Inequalities

For the past three decades Sri Lanka was stalemated between governments that were not prepared to devolve power to the Tamil majority provinces and a Tamil militant movement that wanted a separate country. In February 2002, the Sri Lankan government and LTTE signed a ceasefire agreement under Norwegian government auspices that appeared to offer the real prospect of a final end to violence as a means of conflict resolution. The ceasefire between the government and the LTTE held for nearly four years despite significant problems affecting the peace process, problems that led to the LTTE’s withdrawal from the peace talks. However, the ceasefire collapsed in early 2006 with a series of ambushes of government soldiers by the LTTE, eventually leading to counter measures and counter attacks by the forces of the government, measures in which the government wrested back control of territory placed under the control of the LTTE by the terms agreed upon by the Ceasefire Agreement. Today Sri Lanka is a country that continues to be deeply divided on lines of ethnicity, religion and politics. Horizontal inequalities, defined as severe inequalities in economic and political resources between culturally defined groups, were undoubtedly a contributing factor for the perpetuation of Sri Lanka’s long-running conflict. No sooner it won the war, the government asserted economic development to be the main engine of reconciliation.

The Constitutional Practice of Ethno-Religious Violence in Sri Lanka

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-387
Author(s):  
Gehan GUNATILLEKE
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Religious Violence ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Chronic Problem

AbstractEthno-religious violence in Sri Lanka is a chronic problem, and it can be sustained even without the active support of a particular government. This understanding of violence prompts further reflection – both on the factors that drive such violence and the complex relationship between ethnicity, religion, and the Sri Lankan constitution. This article delves into the post-war context in Sri Lanka and examines how and why ethno-religious violence has persisted regardless of the government in power. It is presented in three sections. The first analyzes the current state of ethno-religious violence in Sri Lanka. The second offers a hypothesis on why such violence has persisted despite the democratic transition of January 2015. It argues that democratic transitions alone cannot prevent chronic ethno-religious violence due to certain factors that serve to entrench violence within the country’s constitutional practice. The final section discusses the relationship between ethno-religious relations, the nature of the Sri Lankan constitution, and the space for meaningful constitutional reform. It concludes that the Sri Lankan state – informed by Sri Lanka’s ‘political constitution’ – embodies a certain structural dispensation towards ethno-religious violence. Until this fundamental dispensation is in some way transformed, meaningful religious freedom and power sharing will remain elusive aims.

scholarly journals Ethnic Conflict, War Crimes and Human Rights: Revisiting U.S Sponsored UNHRC Resolution against Sri Lanka in 2013

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 ◽  
pp. 126-139
Author(s):  
S.M. Aliff
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War ◽  
Local Ngo ◽  
External Intervention

The civil war ended in 2009 but four years later the country has yet to find its path of reconciliation and to heal the wounds of war. At the present time it also appears that Sri Lanka is moving backwards, and not forwards, in terms of securing the rule of law and reconciliation. This has impacted negatively on the rule of law and by extension the protection of human rights and political accountability. There is also the rise of inter-religious tensions fanned by government allies. A new dimension of inter-communal unrest is the rise of Buddhist extremism in some quarters; it has targeted the Muslim community and taken on an open and frontal confrontational approach. One of the main elements of external intervention in the internal affairs of post-war Sri Lanka is the continuing pressure being brought to bear on the government to adopt a system of province-based devolution as one of the instrumentalities of ethnic reconciliation. It is, indeed, unfortunate that the LLRC itself has made a similar prescription. There is no evidence in the voluminous report produced by the Commission that it made any attempt to draw ‘lessons’ relevant to the subject of territorial devolution and sub-national inter-group conflict from our own experiences, leave alone the abundance of international experiences. Its recommendation, however, has had the effect of legitimizing the demand made by the global west which, in earlier times, was so obviously based on a nakedly superficial, local NGO-nurtured, understanding of Sri Lankan affairs.

scholarly journals Sri Lanka: Physical Reconstruction and Economic Development as Conflict Prevention Factors

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (69) ◽  
pp. 55-76
Author(s):  
Boženko Đevoić
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Conflict Prevention ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Postconflict Reconstruction ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Government

ABSTRACT This article gives an overview of the 26 year long ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and examines physical reconstruction and economic development as measures of conflict prevention and postconflict reconstruction. During the years of conflict, the Sri Lankan government performed some conflict prevention measures, but most of them caused counter effects, such as the attempt to provide “demilitarization”, which actually increased militarization on both sides, and “political power sharing” that was never honestly executed. Efforts in post-conflict physical reconstruction and economic development, especially after 2009, demonstrate their positive capacity as well as their conflict sensitivity. Although the Sri Lankan government initially had to be forced by international donors to include conflict sensitivity in its projects, more recently this has changed. The government now practices more conflict sensitivity in its planning and execution of physical reconstruction and economic development projects without external pressure.

Prospects and restraints of green roofs for high-rise buildings in Sri Lanka

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-260
Author(s):  
Subaskar Charles ◽  
Herath Vidyaratne ◽  
Damithri Gayashini Melagoda
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Green Roof ◽  
Green Roofs ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Rise ◽  
The Government

Purpose Green roofs are acknowledged as a method to substitute greenery washed out by the urbanization. They provide many ecological and sustainable benefits of greenery; reduce the adverse effects of high-rise building constructions. Though this concept is more popular across many countries over the past few decades, still, implementation of this technology in Sri Lanka is new and scant. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the potential of green roofs in high-rise buildings in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach The data collection was conducted through expert interviews and questionnaire survey. Expert interviews were carried out to validate the prospects and restraints identified through literature review to the Sri Lankan context and analyzed using content analysis. Questionnaire survey identified the most significant prospects and restraints using descriptive statistics and paired sample t-test. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. Findings Reduction of air pollution, aesthetical appearance, thermal benefits and energy savings, reduction of an urban heat island effect, the addition of points in the green rating system are the top most significant prospects that need to be highlighted in promoting green roof systems in Sri Lankan high rises. Less space allocation on rooftops, lack of technical competence and lack of awareness and research are restraints that need most effective elimination strategies to encourage green roof systems. Originality/value The first identified and quantified prospects and restraints for green roof system in Sri Lankan high-rise buildings can be utilized by the government, donors, multi-lateral agencies to promote the sustainable development in Sri Lanka and this knowledge could be used in different scale awareness programs. The value of this paper is such that the paper discusses the links of green roofs with the other facets of sustainability. The new legal reforms and amendments in Sri Lanka could potentially be pending with findings of this study.

Framing the Responsibility to Protect

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Nackers
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
War On Terror ◽  
International Community ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
World Summit ◽  
Dominant Discourse ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
The Government ◽  
Outcome Document

The Responsibility to Protect (r2p), as enshrined in the 2005 World Summit Outcome document, aims to protect populations from the commission of mass atrocities. Yet both Sri Lankan government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (ltte) forces killed thousands of civilians during the conclusion of Eelam War Four in Sri Lanka, in spite of the adoption of r2p by the Sri Lankan government. In this article, I argue that these atrocities occurred with little involvement on the part of the international community to stop them, in large part due to existing international political dynamics, which the framing efforts of the Sri Lankan government played upon. The government was able to determine the dominant discourse on the conflict and portrayed it as part of the War on Terror. This facilitated states in supporting the government in the conflict, while diminishing criticism from actors that may otherwise have been more supportive of the invocation of r2p.

scholarly journals Languages Speak Reconciliation: An Interdisciplinary Study on the Impact of National Language in Post War Reconciliation Sri Lanka

2022 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 665-679
Author(s):  
Aruna Jayathilaka ◽  
Thisiri Medagama ◽  
Udeshini Panadare ◽  
Prawardhani Menike
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
National Language ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Post War ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Impact

The Role of National Language is endorsed in different contexts and it has triggered an inspirited debate within the Sri Lankan political history when its discriminatory nature policies marked a triumph of linguist nationalism. The recognition of the Sinhala language as the only National Language in Sri Lanka and its dominance, drifted both communities apart causing frustration and tension among ethnic groups, which have ultimately culminated in ethnic strife that lasted almost three decades. National Languages, hence wield as a sociopolitical tool that demands a balance among languages, recognition, and policies. Similarly, Sri Lanka, in its path to reconciliation also demands a balance among National Languages, policies, and its recognition among the communities. This study thus explores the Role of National Language in promoting social cohesion and coexistence among ethnic groups to achieve anticipated “Reconciliation” within Sri Lankan social fabric.  The paper draws upon a mixed approach employing qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews. Data were gathered from interviewing 20 undergraduates from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages at the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. Data were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis.   Findings revealed that the recognition of National languages in their due status will make a huge impact on fostering reconciliation within Sri Lankan Society. It is further not to be confused with the Link Language as a National Language since its duty in social integration is relatively limited in the cases where the understanding of cultural, traditional, and historical attributes of an ethnic community is more pronounced especially in grappling with attitudinal problems inherited within ethnic communities.

scholarly journals Nationalism, Caste-blindness and the Continuing Problems of War-Displaced Panchamars in Post-war Jaffna Society

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-70
Author(s):  
Kalinga Tudor Silva
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Government ◽  
Ethnic Biases ◽  
Post War ◽  
Caste Groups ◽  
Political Decision Making

This article tries to unpack why subaltern caste groups in Jaffna society have failed to end their displacement and move out of the IDP camps many years after the end of war between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Using both quantitative and qualitative data from the affected communities the paper argues that the interplay among ethnicity, caste and social class and ethnic-biases and caste-blindness of state policies and Sinhala and Tamil politics largely informed by rival nationalist perspectives are among the underlying causes of the prolonged IDP problem in the Jaffna Peninsula. In search of  an appropriate solution to the intractable IDP problem in post-war Sri Lanka, the paper calls for increased participation of subaltern caste groups in political decision making and policy dialogues, release of land in high security zones for  affected IDPs wherever possible and provision of adequate incentives for remaining IDPs to move to alternative locations arranged by the state in consultation with the IDPs and members of neighbouring communities where the IDPs cannot possibly go back to their original sites.

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